Milan-Turin 2026 | Beautiful battle between Strade and Sanremo in the world’s oldest Classic

Mark Cavendish, Arnaud Démare, Primoz Roglic, Isaac Del Toro... You cannot really tell from the winners’ list what kind of race Milan-Turin actually is. In recent years, the organisers have come up with something different almost every season. Sometimes it was a day for the sprinters, the next year it was one for the explosive climbers. This year too, it looks set to suit the lighter riders.

While Liège-Bastogne-Liège is known as La Doyenne, that race has nothing on Milan-Turin. The first edition was held in 1876, which means the race first rolled out from the capital of Lombardy no fewer than 150 years ago. It is the oldest race still on the calendar in world cycling.

2025 Isaac Del Toro
2024 Alberto Bettiol
2023 Arvid de Kleijn
2022 Mark Cavendish
2021 Primoz Roglic
2020 Arnaud Démare
2019 Michael Woods
2018 Thibaut Pinot
2017 Rigoberto Urán
2016 Miguel Ángel López

Where Arvid de Kleijn only had to deal with 800 metres of climbing in 2023, things will be different this year. With 1,500 metres of climbing in 175 kilometres, it still does not look especially hard on paper, but the sting is very much in the tail. From Milan, the race will be completely flat for more than 100 kilometres, and even the first ‘hill’ toward Brozolo is hardly significant. It only starts to get interesting 25 kilometres from the line.

After 150 kilometres of racing, the riders reach the key point of the day. The Bivio di Superga has by now become a famous climb, known for its steep ramps. It is not especially long at 4.9 kilometres, but at 9.1 percent it is steep all the way. At its hardest, it kicks up to 14 percent, with that section coming halfway up the ascent. And once you reach the Basilica di Superga, it still is not over.

Because this killer climb is not tackled once, but twice. After a descent, there is a short flat section before the road rises again with five kilometres to go. The second time will hurt the legs even more: who will still be fresh enough to produce something special?

The weather has been good across western Europe in recent days. In Wallonia, temperatures will reach 17 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, while there will be very little wind.

Start: 11:55 AM local time
Finish: approx. 4:00 PM local time

No Isaac Del Toro this year, so there will be no defending champion at the start. Visma | Lease a Bike are not here this year either, so last year’s runner-up Tulett is absent as well. Who is here? Tom Pidcock, for one. The Briton from Pinarello - Q36.5 will ride his first race since Strade Bianche, and the steep finish should suit him. The same goes for Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost.

UAE Team Emirates - XRG have a very serious challenger in Jan Christen, and with Benoît Cosnefroy they also have more than one card to play. Pidcock’s biggest rival may well be Giulio Pellizzari. The Italian of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rode an excellent Tirreno-Adriatico, although he did come out of it with an injury. If he is not at his best, the team can also count on Primoz Roglic, winner in 2021, and Finn Fisher-Black.

What can we expect from Cian Uijtdebroeks? The Belgian of Movistar returns to racing after his crash in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, but whether he is already back at his best remains to be seen. If not, the Spanish team also have Diego Pescador, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda and Einer Rubio in reserve. Lidl-Trek seem to have a single leader and will be hoping for a strong Derek Gee.

This list will be updated...

Top favourite: Tom Pidcock (Pinarello - Q36.5)
Outsiders: Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Giulio Pellizzari, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Long shots: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Diego Pescador (Movistar), Derek Gee (Lidl-Trek), Benoît Cosnefroy (UAE Team Emirates - XRG)

Eurosport is the place to be for Milan-Turin on Wednesday. Both Eurosport 1 and HBO Max will carry the broadcast, which starts at 2:20 PM on both channels.